what are vulnerabilities? how do you identify them? course hero

Vulnerabilities are specific avenues that threat agents can exploit to attack an information asset. They are chinks in the armor of the information asset, a flaw or weakness in an information asset, security procedure, design, or control that could be exploited accidentally or on purpose to breach security.

Full Answer

What is a vulnerability or vulnerability?

Vulnerabilities are specific avenues that threat agents can exploit to attack an information asset. They are chinks in the armor of the information asset, a flaw or weakness in an information asset, security procedure, design, or control that could be exploited accidentally or on purpose to breach security.

What are vulnerabilities in Information Systems?

They are chinks in the armor of the information asset—a flaw or weakness in an information asset, security procedure, design, or control that could be exploited accidentally or on purpose to breach security. Analyzing all components of an Information System and evaluating the risk to each component should identify any vulnerabilities.

What is an authentication-related vulnerability?

Authentication-related web application vulnerabilities occur when there’s an improper implementation of adequate user authentication controls. This puts user accounts at risk of being breached. Attackers may exploit these web security vulnerabilities to gain control over any user account or even over the entire system.

What are the web application vulnerabilities you should avoid?

Web application vulnerabilities leave you susceptible to security attacks during which valuable customer and company data could be at risk. As a result, you will incur huge financial losses while your reputation suffers serious damage.

What is vulnerability in security?

Vulnerabilities are specific avenues that threat agents can exploit to attack an information asset. They are chinks in the armor of the information asset—a flaw or weakness in an information asset, security procedure, design, or control that could be exploited accidentally or on purpose to breach security.

What is the purpose of analyzing all components of an information system and evaluating the risk to each component?

Analyzing all components of an Information System and evaluating the risk to each component should identify any vulnerabilities.

Why do some networking components require examination from an information security perspective?

Additionally, some networking components require examination from an information security perspective due to the fact that they must be reconfigured from their default settings to both serve their required purpose and maintain security requirements. From the systems development perspective, the networking component may function perfectly, as is, right out of the box. However, without information security oversight, potential vulnerabilities could go unnoticed.

Why do organizations need to obtain or improve their IT systems?

Therefore, organizations need to obtain or improve their IT systems to avoid falling behind all others.

Who said "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles?

An observation made by Chinese General Sun Tzu Wu stated, "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. In short, know yourself and know the enemy.

Is it better to have a component assessed in an incorrect category or unrecognized?

It would be far better to have a component assessed in an incorrect category rather than to have it go completely unrecognized during a risk assessment.

What is vulnerability management?

Vulnerability management is the cyclical practice of identifying, classifying, remediating, and mitigating vulnerabilities. we studied the simplified way to categorize security vulnerabilities using the standardized system.

What is overall likelihood rating?

Overall likelihood rating shows the probability that they may exercise a potential vulnerability within the construct of the associated threat environment, we must consider the following governing factors:

What is the next step in measuring risk level?

The next major step in measuring risk level determines the adverse impact resulting from a successful threat exercise of a vulnerability.

What is host assessment?

Host Assessment: A host assessment looks for system-level vulnerabilities like insecure file permissions, application-level bugs, backdoor, and computer virus installations . It requires specialized tools for the software and software packages getting used, besides administrative access to every system that ought to test. Host assessment is commonly very costly within the term of your time and thus barely used in the assessment of critical systems. Tools like COPS and Tiger are popular in host assessment.

How to identify a vulnerability in an application?

The easy part is basically a checklist of configuration settings and algorithms . Applications that have a particular vulnerability will most likely be vulnerable to a corresponding exploit. For example, applications that fail to set the “Secure” flag for a cookie that stores the user's session token may be vulnerable to session hijacking. Once a set of potential vulnerabilities and weaknesses are identified in an application, the attacker can proceed to identify and validate exploitable vulnerabilities – possibly in tandem – and map out an attack.

What is vulnerability activity?

The existence of a vulnerability is a major contributing factor for calculating the probability of risk. If an asset has a vulnerability that can be exploited by a threat, then the risk to that asset is much higher when compared to an asset that does not have the same vulnerability.

What Are We Trying to Prevent?

Eric Knipp, ... Edgar Danielyan, in Managing Cisco Network Security (Second Edition), 2002

What is the purpose of vulnerability listing?

The objective of this activity is to determine all potential vulnerabilities to the asset that could be leveraged by a threat source. The outcome of this activity is typically captured in the form of a vulnerability listing. There are actually two possible approaches to take here. Either you make a comprehensive vulnerability listing of all possible vulnerabilities that you can think of or you can focus only on the vulnerabilities that have already been identified within the organization. These approaches will be discussed in more detail in Chapters 3 to 6 but ultimately the final goal here is to prepare a list of vulnerabilities. If the second approach is used, that of listing down identified vulnerabilities, you will be largely dependent on the availability of documentation in your organization. Sources of good vulnerability data for your organization can include penetration testing reports, previous risk assessments, vulnerability assessments, security incident data, security metrics, and other third party or internal audit reports.

What are the phases of attack methodology?

A general attack methodology involves three phases: reconnaissance, vulnerability identification, and exploit creation . An attacker must first know what he is attacking before determining the subsequent correct steps. Reconnaissance will include analysis of an application's functionality; data in the form of information stored in and used by the application as well as input data fields presented to the client; and design and architectural aspects. The task of identifying vulnerabilities and weaknesses and then creating a successful exploit becomes easier as more useful information is obtained.

How to reduce vulnerability?

Reducing vulnerabilities can be achieved by automated vulnerability programs . The Cisco Secure Scanner (NetSonar) is an effective tool in identifying vulnerabilities. This should be combined with a security event management program to ensure that vulnerabilities are tracked and resolved over time.

What is the CSM's understanding of threats?

The CSM knows that fundamental to developing an effective physical security profile is in part his or her understanding of the various threats to assets and the likelihood of an actual occurrence. Recognizing threats allows for cost-effective implementation of security measures.

1. Make sure your operating systems and software are up-to-date

We all know that one person who downright refuses to update their software. Don’t be that person.

2. Assess the physical security of your network

Threats aren’t always external. Disgruntled employees and opportunistic thieves may be looking to seize a computer, steal customer information, or gain unauthorized access to your network.

3. Share security best practices with your staff

Go out right now and ask a couple of your team members if they use the same password for multiple accounts. Ask them if they know how to recognize a phishing site or email or regularly connect to public Wi-Fi networks.

4. Perform a comprehensive risk assessment

If you really want to identify the security vulnerabilities facing your business, perform a comprehensive risk assessment. This should encompass on-site infrastructure, devices, drives, and servers, as well as any cloud-based software and applications you use.

Why is it important to know about web application vulnerabilities?

Web application vulnerabilities leave you susceptible to security attacks during which valuable customer and company data could be at risk. As a result, you will incur huge financial losses while your reputation suffers serious damage.

Why are authentication related web applications vulnerable?

Authentication-related web application vulnerabilities occur when there’s an improper implementation of adequate user authentication controls. This puts user accounts at risk of being breached. Attackers may exploit these web security vulnerabilities to gain control over any user account or even over the entire system.

What is the purpose of advanced attacks?

Attackers typically use these attacks to collect vital customer information such as their contact information, passwords, or even credit card info. They may even exploit these web security vulnerabilities to change the price of a product, for instance. Advanced attacks can even allow them to control the database server and the operating system.

Which frameworks are most effective at preventing XSS attacks?

Modern frameworks have made it a lot easier to escape untrusted user input and mitigate XSS attacks. AngularJS, React JS, and Ruby on Rails are some of the latest, most effective frameworks to prevent these web application vulnerabilities. These frameworks can automatically escape user input and help mitigate XSS attacks by design, although they do have limitations.

Why avoid blacklisting?

Avoid implementing a blacklist, instead favor of a whitelist, because blacklists are less effective at preventing web security vulnerabilities. An attacker who knows what they’re doing can easily bypass a blacklist filter. The ultimate solution to prevent these web application vulnerabilities is output encoding.

What happens if an attacker exploits a web application?

If attackers manage to exploit these web application vulnerabilities, they can access sensitive information and take control of user and admin accounts.

Is web application security preventable?

As a result, you will incur huge financial losses while your reputation suffers serious damage. The good news is that these web application security threats are preventable. roper knowledge of the most common web application vulnerabilities is the key to prevention.